Raphael Selbourne's debut novel Beauty has been declared the winner of the 2009 Costa First Novel Award, as announced on Radio 4's Front Row.

The Costa judges were full of praise for Beauty, declaring that the novel 'captures the raw humanity of inner city life with extraordinary intensity'.

Discussing the winning novel on Front Row, the Telegraph's literary editor Michael Prodger said: 'People have been complaining this year how the contemporary novel doesn't deal with real life... This one does, and in spades.'

This is wonderful news for Raphael and for Wolverhampton, in which the novel is set. It is also great news for Tindal Street Press, who are one of our regularly funded organisations: the book is their second winner of the award in the last three years, following Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost in 2007.